Lubricating system for deep well tools



Dec. 22, 1931.

F. L. O. WADSWORTH LUBRICATING SYSTEM FOR DEEP WELL TOOLS 3 Sheets-Sheet1 Dec. 22, 1931. F` L, Q WADSWQRTH 1,838,045

LUBRICATING SYSTEM FOR DEEP WELL TOOLS Filed A11gl5. 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet2 FIGA- V- F1115 /N VE N T0@ Dec. 22, 1931. F. L. o. wADswoRTHLUBRICATING SYSTEM FOR DEEP WELL TOOLS Patented Dec. 22, 1931 UnirseSTATES FRANK L, 0. WADSWORTI-I, OF PITTSBURGI-L`PF4NNSYIVJVANIALUBRIGATING SYSTEM FOR DEEP -WELL TOOLS Appiicanon ined August 15, 1922.serial No. 582,046;

My invention relates generically to a method and apparatus forlubricating the bearings, or wearing surfaces, Vof-various tools whichare designed and intended to operate in deep excavations, or atinaccessible points,

below the location'of the ldriving motor forv such tools; and' thegeneral object and purpose of these improvements is to provide a simpleand efhcient mode of automatically forcing the oil, or otherunguent,into all parts of the said bearings, at a predetermined and controllablerate, whenthetools are in operation.

Another object of thepresent'invention is to provide a lubricatingsystem which is in no way dependent, iii its action, on either thenature or the physical state of the medium surrounding the apparatus forwhich it is provided; and Ywhich is capable of operating equally well inair, steam, or other gas, or

in water or other liquid, kat any pressure or depth of immersion.

A further purpose of my improvements 1s to utilize the force of gravityalone in effecting the forced flow of lubricating material to thedesired points; and to govern or regu-` late the application of thatforce, and thereby vary the rate of that flow, by the action of anindependent extraneous force which is subject to control at anaccessible point.

Still another object of my invention is the production of a strong,rugged, simple and reliable feed mechanism which is capavble of exertingany desired degree ofipressure on the mass of lubricant in the supplyreservoir and of forcing the most viscous solid unguent into the mostrestricted bearing spaces; thereby eifectually precluding the admissionthereto of any mud or grit or other deleterious substances.

A further object of my improvements'is to .provide means for easilyrestoring the operating parts of the feeding mechanism to their initialposition, and for readily replenishing or fully recharging the lubricantreservoir after the latter has been partially emptied, or' completelyexhausted by the long continued operation of the tool.

ln the illustrative embodiments hereinafter described my improvementsare particularly directed to thevprovision of a lubricating system, ofthe' above specified character, `for the cutter bearings of deepwellboring tools; and a more specific objectl of the invention,` as thusutilized, is to provide for 'the automatic" arrest of the flow of lubri`cant to such bearings when the boring operations a-re stopped, or whenthe drillis being lowered into, or lifted from, the bore hole. Anadditional purpose of lmy improvements-when applied to boring toolconstructions-is to provide means kwhereby the weight of the drill steinparts will be utilized to perform the joint functions of effecting theforced flow of the lubricant into the cutter bearings, and of alsokeeping the cutters in proper pressure engagement with the bottom of thebore hole when the tool is in use.

ACther specific features and other special advantages of the presentinvention will be made apparent, to those skilled in the art, by themore detailed consideration of the various exemplary constructions lastmentioned, which are depicted in the accompanying drawingsas follows: n

Fig. l is a central longitudinal section,-on the plane 1 1, of one formofmy improved lubricating device, as applied to any standard form ofrotary drilling tool; Fig. 2' is a crossl section on the plane 2 2 ofFig. l; Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section on the plane 3-3of Figs. l andQ; Fig. 4 is aview,si1nilar to that Yof Fig. l, of anotherboring tool structure embodying my improvements; Fig. 5 is a crosssection on the plane 5-5-5 of Fig. 4:5,

Fig. 6 is anothervcentral longitudinal section through a third form ofmy improved rotary drill construction; Fig. 7 is a horizontalcross-section on th-e plane 7--7 of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a gear diagramshowing the arrangement of certain parts of the control mechanism ofthis construction; Fig. 9 is a partial s ection'on the same plane asthat of Fig. 6 and Villustrates a modification oftheA feed releasingelements shown in that figure; Fig. 10 is a sectional elevation of afourth embodiment of my invention, the lower part. of this sectionalview being taken on thebent planer io-io-io of Eig. ii; Fig. i1 ist Sideeievation of the drill head and cutter elements' fifth exemplilicationof this invention; Fig.

exemplary organizations.

l5 is a partial cross section on the plane i15- 15 of Fig. 14; and Fig.16 is an additional view illustrating still another way of utilizingcertain features of my improvements.

In the following eXplanation of the above enumerated drawings'lilreletters of reference are used, as far as possible, to designatecorresponding or equivalent parts of the several The construction shownin Figs. 1 and 2 comprises a drill head 4; which is of the usual form,and lwhich may be Vprovided with any desired type of rotary cuttingmembers; a driving sleeve 6 which screws into the upper and of theV saidhead; and a'plunger member 8 which is adaptedtoVv slide longitudinallyin the sleeve 6 and which is closedat its upper end, by a cap'9 that isscrewed onto the lower extremity of the hollow drillY stem 11. The head4 is drilled and threaded to receive and carrya central tube 12 whichsupports a piston 14 that slides longitudinally in the plunger member 8;and the lower end of this member is closed by a head 16 that slides onthe tube l2. It will beseen that the plunger 8 and the driving sleeve 6form complementary sleeves whichY are compressed by the force of theweight of the drill and that this force of compression is limited by asuction force created between the plunger 8 and the piston 14. The upperend of this tube is provided with an extension 17 that is surrounded byan annular bushing18 whose external diameter' is substantially the sameas that of the tube 12 and which slides tightly in a central bearing 19on the cap 9. The plunger 8 is provided with three longitudinal keyways20-20-20 that extend from its upper end to a point'somewhat above thehead 16; and it is held in nonrotatable relation to the driving sleeve 6by means of keys 212121 whose heads are engaged by suitable notches atthev upper `end of the said sleeve, and are locked therein by theclamp'ring 22.

The annular space between the sleeve 6 and the tube :L2-which is closedat one end by the drill head 4 and at the other by the plunger headv16-constitutes a lubricantreservoir which is in communication with thecutter bearings through a suitable duct or ducts 23. The reservoir canbe filled'th'rough anopening 24 that is closedby a screw kplug 25; andthe duct 23V is preferably Yprovided with a needle valve screw 26whichis covered, and locked in place;` (after adjustment) by the librewasher 27 and the plug 25. The recessed end of thisplugis alsopreferably covered by a fusible metal seal s, or some other suitableprotecting means.

lVhen the drill is in operation the head 4 is supported by theengagement of the cutter elements with the bottom of the bore hole; andthe weight of the drill stem and its attached parts is transmitted,through the plungermember 8 and the head 16, to the mass of lubricant inthe reservoir, and serves to force it through the valve controlled duct23; to the bearings of the cutters. When the bore hole is relativelyshallow the weight of the drill stem parts is not large .and the flow oflubricant can then be properly regulated by the'needle valve 26 alone;but as the depth increases this weight becomes so great that it would beimpossible to sufficiently restrict the feed of even the most viscousunguents by merely throttling the passage way 23. Under these conditionsthe feed of the material to the cutter bearings is governed-by reducingand controlling the effective pressure on the head 16; and in theconstruction now under consideration this is eected in the followingmanner: rlhe piston 14, which is support-r ed on the drill head 4, isprovided with a small port 28 that is closed by a downwardly openingball valve 29; and the bushing 18 is provided with an eccentric edgeflange 30 which can be rotatively adjusted so as to vary the size ofthis port. The annular chamber between the sleeve 8, the-bushing 187 thecap 9 and the piston 14 is filled lwith glycerine or some other suitableliquid which will flow slowly through the restricted opening 28 to thespace between the piston 14 and the head 16. The downward movement ofthe plunger member S-relatively to the driving sleeve 6-and theresultant discharge of the lubricant from the reservoir below the head16, is thus regulated and governed by the restricted flow ofliquidthrough the control port 28 and the spring closed valve 29.A Theresistance to the flow of viscous material, both through the lastmentioned openings and also through the tlirottled duct 23, permits apart of the load'pressureV on the drill stem to be transmitted to thedrill head parts 4 and 14, and correspondingly increases the pressure onthe cutter bits. rl`he total load pressure on the plunger member 8-whichis thus utilized in part to feed the lubricant and in part to hold thecutter bits in proper engagement with the bottom of the bore hole-canbe; in turn, regulated from the surface by tightening up or slacking offthe suspension cable that supports the'thrust bearing at the upper endof the revolving drill stem.

As the operation proceeds the plunger parts gradually move downward withrespect to the drill head parts andthe liquid above the piston 14 isgradually transferred to the chamber below that piston-as shown in thepartial section view of Fig. 3. `Then the operation is interrupted andthe vtool is raised out of contact with the bottom ofthe hole, theweight of the suspended drill head parts, 4-6-l2*l418 etc., is carriedon the mass ofliquid which. iills the space between he heads 14 and 16;and the closure of the spring pressed ball valves 29 prevents anyreverse movement of separation. of the longitudinally reciproeablemembers. But when the tool has been lifted out of the hole, and thedrill stem 1l removed therefrom, the bushing 1S and the i'iange head 30can be turned on the extension support 17 so as to completely uncover alarge port 31 in the piston l4-thus permitting the liquid to pass freelyfrom the space below to the space above the said piston, and allowingthe parts 6 and 8 to be drawn apart to the `original position shown inFig. l. lThe seal over the plug 25 can then be melted out or broken, theplug removed, and the lubricant reservoir refilled ready for the neXtturn in the drilling operations, As the depth increases the p--o-rls 23and 28 are, one or both, reduced in size by a predetermined adjustmentor setting of the control elements 26 and 30; and after theseadjustments are made the movable elements are locked in place, the oneby theplug 25 and the other by the nut 32.

In order to ensure proper working engagerent of the tually reciprocableparts the sliding surfaces of the members (SFS- 1.4, l2--l6 and 18-l9,are preferably provided with suitable oil retaining grooves andadjustable packing glands-such as are illustrated in Figs. l and aandthese glands are all so arranged as to be readily accessible by aremoval df either the drill .iead 4 or the drill stem can 9. 'i heplunger parts can also be readily disconnected 'from the driving sleeveby removing the clamp ring 22 and the keys 2l and then unscrewing thetubular s* ndard l2 from the head 4. In practice this central tube, andits extension lr?, is used to c v the flushing liquidwhen such liquid isused-from .the interior of the hollow drill stem 1l to the passage way33 which leads to the lower end ofthe drill head.

In the construction shownin Figsl and 5 there is a tubular drivingsleeve 6a which `is screwed onto the end of the drill head 4,

and is provided with three longitudinal grooves or keyways v20a- 2Oaetc. that extend from the said head to a point somewhat below the upperextremity of the sleeve. A hollow plunger member 8L is secured directlyto the lower end of the drill stem ll, and isv attached at its bottom toan elongated spool snaped 4piston head i6 which carries an L shaped ring16am that is provided on its pe riphery with three projecting lugs orkeys 2la for engaging the keyways 20a. A cen tral tube 12a is rotatablysecured, at its lower extremity, to the head 4, by means of the taperedcollar and the threadedsleeve 36; and is slidably engaged, at its uppersend, by

the bearing 19a `in the top of the tubular bushing 9au which couples thecentral stem. of

the piston 16a to the upper head of the plunger 8a. The lower portion ofthis central tube is threaded to receive a nut 37 that is looselyconfined in a closed pocket between the bottomof the piston head 16111and the inwardly turned flange of the L shaped ring 16m; and a ring ofballs 38 is inserted between tlie adjacent faces of the said nut andpiston head. The nut 37 is provided with an internal gear collar 39, andthe teeth of this gear are engaged by a pinion 40 on the vertical shaft4l.. The opposite end ofthis shaft carries another pinion 42 which is inmesh with the spur gear-43 that is revolvably mounted on the lower` endof the bushing9. The gear 43 is coupled, by'a pawl and ratchetconnection, to the clock spring drum 44which is also revolvably mountedonthe bushing 9a and is provided, at its upper end, with an internalwinding gear 45 that is engaged by the key pinion 46. The

drum 44 carries a powerful spiral spring 47* which is attached at itsouter end to the tubular extension 48 of the piston 16a. The uncoilingof this spiral spring revolves the drum 44 and the pawl connected gear43, and this, in turn, rotates the nut 37 (through the pinion and gearconnections, 42'-4l 40-39) in such direction as to move it downwardly onthe stationary screw threaded tube 12".l n order to control and governthe speed of this movement the shaft 4l is connected, through the trainof gearing 50-5l`525354.-555657 't0 an 0rdinary balance or escapementwheel 58.

The space below the piston members 1684-16an is filled with lubricantthrough the opening 24 and the latter is then hermetically closed by theplug 25 and a suitable seal, s. The spring 47 is wound up on the drum 44by means of the winding key 46, and the closed chamber containing theclock work control mechanism is preferably lled with a light mobileoil-such as kerosenethrough a suitable opening such as 59. The head o-fthe winding key and the screw olosure of the opening 59 are covered by asuitable packing washer 60 that is held in place by the insertion of thedrill stem 1l. l/Vhen the tool is being lowered into the well the drillhead members 4-6a-12a etc. are suspended on the piston ring 16m; and thefric-V tional engagement between theflange of this ring and the adjacentflat surface of the threaded nut-gear 37-39 prevents any rotation of thelatter by the spring 47. But

when the cutters come into contact with thef bottoni of the bore hole,the weight of the plunger-drill-stem members, 821-11 etc., is brought tobear on the mass of lubricant below the piston ring 16M, and acts toforce the viscous material through theV restricted duct 23 to thevarious bearings of the drill head. This action relieves the frictionalengagement between the ring 16aa and the nut-gear 37-39 and leaves thelatter free to revolve ata predetermined rate under the influence andcontrol'oi1 the clock train, which is set in motion by the angularvibration of the revolving drill members. The speed of descent of theplunger.members-relative to the vdrill head and driving sleeve (5a-isthus governed by the spring actuated balance wheel mechanism in theplunger head; and the flow of lubricant to the cutter bearings, underthe pressure of the drill stem assembly, is thereby regulated andcontrolledbut not produced-by the aforesaid mechanism. If the iiow oflubricant is so slow that the nut is lowered at a more rapid rate thanthe plunger head the clock movement will be stopped as soon as the faceof the gear 39 has been run down into contact with the ring 16, and themovement will not be resumed until the subsequent discharge of thelubricating material has again relieved this frictional engagementbetween the parts.

In order to provide for the convenient return of the reciprocatingmembers to the starting. position (shown in F ig. 4) the threaded tube12a is provided, at its upper end, with a squared head; and when thetool has been lifted out of the well, and the drill stem removedtherefrom, the tube 19a can be rotated, by means of a suitable wrench orcrank, and the nut 37 can be drawn ba-clr to the top ot the screw onwhich it worlrs. In order to provide for this rotary movement the screwsleeve 36 is so set that there is a small endwise clearance between itand the tapered collar 35; and when the latter is lifted from its seatthe tube 12a can be easily turned. But when the drill is in operationthe downward thrust of the plunger on the nut 87, and the conjointpressure of the lubricant on'the top of the collar 35 Jorces the lattertightly against its coned seat and not only prevents .any rotation otthe tube, but also hermetically seals the opening in which it issupported against any passage of fluid either into or out or" thelubricant chamber. If the tube is used to carry ushing water from thedrill stem 11 to the drill head passage way 33', any access of suchwater to the bottom of the lubricant chamber is thus etfectuallyprevented. y

The third illustrative embodiment of my present inventionhwhich is shownin F 6 to 9 inclusive-diiters from those previously described in havinga control mechanism which is actuated by the rotary movement of somepart of the drill head and which, therefore, is only7 in action `whenthe drill is being revolved. ln the particular construction herecshownthe drill head 4 is provided with a vdriving sleeve 6" which issubstantially identical in form with that illustrated in Fig. 4; and thedrill stem 11 is attached to a solid plunger member 8b which slideslongitudinally in the said driving sleeve, and is held in nonrotatablerelation thereto by means of the keys or lugs 21" that project from theperipheral edge of the plunger head 16b and engage with the keyways 20".The plunger and plunger head 8"-16b are centrally bored to receive along sleeve 9b which is normally held in fixed position in these portsby means of a cap nut 32h. The sleeve is threaded, at its lower end, toreceive the control screw 12b which is rotatably supported in, and on,the cap 61 and the block 62, that rest on the upper face of the drillhead v4 and are clamped thereto by the driving sleeve 6". The screw isprovided with a worm wheel 391 which is engaged by a worm 40b that ismounted on the cap 61; and a train of gears 50b-51b-52b-53b54b55b and56h connect the said worm with an annular gear 57D that is rotatablymounted between the upper shouldered end of the drill head 4 and theadjacent face of the block 62. The annular gear 57h is engaged by apinion 42') which is mounted on a shaft 41b that is suitably connectedto one of the revolving cutters on the drill` head-in such manner, forexample, as is indicated in F ig. 10 infra and is more fully illustratedand described in my copending application, Ser. No. 451,223, liled March10th, 1921. lVhen the drill head rotates and the cutters revolve thescrew 12b is slowly rotated in such direction as to permit the plunger8b to descendunder the weight of the attached drill stem partskand forcethe lubricant, which is below it, through the ducts 23h and 23m) to thecutter bearings. if the operation of the drill is stopped the feed ofthe lubricant is automatically arrested; and it the head of the'drill islifted away from the bottom of the bore hole the separation of theparts-which would result in the expansion of the lubricant reservoir andthe sucking in of fluid through the ducts 23N etcis prevented by thevengagement of the wormwheel 39h with the lower face of the bearing inthe collar 61. But when it is necessary 'to reill the reservoir thescrew connected members, 46b-6l-62 andv b9b-16b etc., can be easilyreturned to their expanded positions by removing the drill stem 11 andthe cap nut 321 and turn-V ing the threaded sleeve 9" by means of asuit-A able wrench or crank applied to its upper squared end. Thelubricant chamber canv then be charged through the opening 24b that isprovided for that purpose. The chamber containing the gears 39b to 55his preferably filled with alight mobile oil which can be introducedtherein through the screw closed opening 59h.'

In order to provide for conducting a stream of flushing liquid from theinterior of the hollow drill stem 11 to the lower end of the drill head,the above described construction may be provided with a tube 68 which isscrewed into the block 62-and is in communication through ak diagonalpassageway therein with the opening 88-and which is slidably engaged, atits upper end, with a bearing 19 the bottom of the offset opening 64that extends through the plunger 8b.

Fig. 9 illustrates a modification of a portion of the structure shown inFigs. 6 and 7,. In this modification the screw l2b is engaged by a splitcone nut ythat is attached to, or forms anintegral part of, the splitsleeve 911; and the latter is secured, at its upper end,

- to a collar 66 that is, in turn engaged by the clamp nut 82M). A coilcompression spring 67 is interposed between the collar 66 and a shoulder68 on .the plunger 8, and serves to keep the. sleeve nut 65 pressedupwardly against its coned seat in the plunger head 16.

When it is desired to separate the members, lll) and 12", the clamp nut82bb is removed a-nd the sleeve Qbb is pressed down against the tensionofthe spring v67 thereby releasing the nut sections 65 from their seat,`and permitting them to spring apart under the action of the initiallytensioned sides of the split sleeve 9m. The threads of the nut are thusjdisengaged from the supporting screwplQ/P, and the lonffitudinallyslidable driving sleeve and plunger parts may be drawn apart to theoriginal position shown in Fig. 6.

Figs. and ll illustrate another arrangement of parts in which the flowof lubricant is regulated or governed, but is not produced, by therotary movement vof one of the revolving drill bits. In thisconstruction the rotating cutter member Y0- which is of thehyper-conoidic form more fully described in my copending applicationSer. No. 442,888 filed Feb. 8rd, l921-is provided `at one end with aring of gear teeth 7l that engage with a pinion 7 2 on the end of theshaft 41.; and the upper end of this shaft carries a .skew gear 42 thatmeshes with an internal gear 89 on the periphery of the annular drum 78.This drum is litted rather tightly in a suitable recess in the top ofthe drill head 4 and is held in place therein by the shouldered end ofthe driving stem 6 which is screwed into the threaded extremity of therecessed `drill head. The driving stem is secured, atits upper end, toahead 14 .that is provided on its edge with one or more 'projecting ribsor keys 21 which are adapted to engage with longitudinal keyways in theannular plunger 8. The driving stem 6 is longitudinally cored or boredto form a central passage way 64, which communicates, atits lower end,with the opening 88 in the member 4, and which is provided, at its upperend, with a bearing 19, that engages the tube 68. The head 14 is Valsocentrally bored to receive a split cone sleeve 74 that embraces the tubeA68 and is normally held in frictional engagement closed annular spacebetween the plunger 8 and the tube 68 constitutes the lubricantreservoir; and this is in communication, through the'recess containingthe split sleeve 74 and the spring 7 5, with a longitudinal passage way76 that leads to a peripheral groove 77 on the threaded end ofthedriving sleeve 6. rlfhe groove 7 7 communicates in turn with a duct 7 8that is controlled by a needle valve 26 in the drill head 4; and thelower end of this `duct opens into ka pocket 79 on the bearing face ofthe recess in which the drum 78 rotates. The annular web of the drum 78is pierced with lone or more ports 8O which permit of -an intermittentflow of liquid from thev passageways 76-7 7..-7 8 and the opening 79, tothe interior of the said drum as the latter is slowly rotated. Thelubricant thus admitted to the drum recess is conducted to the bearingsof the revolving cutters 70-70 through .the clearance space around thesplit shaft 41 and the restricted duct 28. 4In order to convert theintermittent flow through the port., or ports, 80, into-an equalizedlor, substantially steady `flow to the cutter bearings, the lower end ofthe driving stem 6 is provided with an air chamber 8l that opens intothe drum recess; and when liquid is forced throug-hrthe ports 80 (by thepressure of the drill stem parts ll-9-8) it compresses the air that istrapped in this chamber-abovethe liquid level L-and .thus creates anelastic pressure that maintains the flow through the smaller openings,28etc., until the nextgush of liquid is admitted to the drum recess. In

this case the rapidity of the downward movement vof theplungermember-and the consequent speed of vdischarge of the unguent fromthe lubricator reservoir.-is governed .and regulated, in part by theadjustment of the needle valve 26, in part' by the ,size and number oftheports 80, in part by the speed of rotation of the drum 78, and inpart by the tension of the suspension cable on which the drill stem ishung; and by the preliminary fixed adjustment of the first two factors',or by the controllable surface adjustment of the last two factors, thedesired rate of oil supply to the cutter bearings can be maintained atany depth of drilling operations and under any pressure of flushingliquid-' if the latter is used. ff

In the downward movement of ythe plunger memberrelative tothe drivingsleeve and drill head parts, the lsplit sleeve 74 is disengaged from itsconed vseat by the sliding friction between it and 'the tube 68. Butwhen the plunger member is raised the sleeve grips the tube and preventsthe relative separation of the parts 6 and 8; thus prevent-v ing theback flow of liquid into the partially emptied lubricator reservoir incase the port 80 was, at that time, in registry with the opening 79.When the assembly is lifted out y of a suitable tool or implementintroduced through this opening in the cap 9G. The entire structure canbe disassembled by removing the cap 9c from the plunger member, andunscrewing the'stem 6c from the drill head. The construction shown inFigs. 12 and 13 exemplifies another means for controlling the oildelivery action of a reciprocable plunger member by means of anautomatic cutter-operated-valve-mechanism in the discharge circuit. Inthis construction the drill head 4 is'attached to an annular drivingsleeve6d which is slidably but nonrotatably coupled to a suitable drillstem-plunger member in the manner already fully illustrated in Figs. 4f,5, 6.and7.' The drill head Llis also provid# ed witha central tube 12d,which is in registry, at its lower end, with the opening 33 in the saidhead, and which is slidably engaged',` at its upper end with the drillstem plunger in the manner shown in Figs. 1, 3 or 6'-(or114). The upperend of the drill head is cut away to form a T shaped annular recess 82around the lower portion of the tube 12d, and the top of this recess iscovered by a fiange collar 83 that is engaged by the threaded end of,the saidtube and is. also clamped'in place by the shouldered extremityof the driving sleeve 6d. This collar islpierced by a small passage way76d that opens into an annular groove 77d on its lower face; vand thisgroove is in registry with a duct 78d that communicates at its lower endwith the recess 82 in the head 4. The head is also provided with atransverse opening 84 which traverses the duct 78d, and which contains areciprocable valve element 73d; and this valve has on its periphery acircumferential passage or port 80d, which is adapted to establishcommunication between the two ends of the duct78d,

56 but which is normally held out of registry therewith by means-of thespring 85.

The valve member 73d is actuated by the rotary movement of one of thedrill head cutters so as to intermittently open and close the duct 78dand thereby establish orV interrupt communication between the spacewithin the driving sleeve 6d (which forms the lubricant chamber) Vandthe` recess 82. In the particular illustrative construction here shownthe tool is provided with* reaming cutters 86 which are mounted on shortshafts 87, and

'one of these shafts has `a cam groove 88 that engages directly with theouter endof the `reciprocable element 73d. When the higher part of thisgroove comes in Contact with the lgsssgo'lns stem of the valve thelatter is pushed in, against the tension of the spring 85, and a j et oflubricant is forced through the opened duct 78d into the recess 82thereby partially filling said recess to a level L, and compresing theair trapped in the upper part of this recess. When the duct is closed,by the spring return of themember 73d, the trapped fluid will continueto flow through the ducts 23d, 23dd etc., which lead to the cutterbearings, under the action of this'compressed air, until the valve isagain opened and another supply of lubricant is forced into the drillhead chamber.

Inthe construction shown in Figs. 14: and 15 thev gravity action of thedrill stem plunger members, in feeding lubricant to the drill headbearings, is govered and controlled by the pressure of the medium-air,gas, or water-in which the boringtcol is operating. In this embodimentof my invention the upper end ofthe drill head 4 is bored out to receivea cylindrical block 62e that is attached to the said head by a threadednipple or boss 90 and is also locked in place therein by the shoulderedend of the driving sleeve 6. This block is longitudinally divided intomajor and minor sectors that are rigidly connected by eight uniformlyVdistributed screws 91, 91 etc.; and the meeting faces of the two sectorsare reversely recessed to form circular chambers 92 and 93 which areseparated from each other by the corrugated diaphragm 94 that isinserted and clamped between the connected parts. The'center of thisdiaphragm is engaged by the end of a reciprocable valve element 73ewhich is mounted transversely in the minor sector of the block 62", andis normally held in open position-as shown in Fig. li-by a volute spring85e, interposed between the diaphragm 94 and the major sector of thesaid block. This valve element is provided with a U shaped port 80B; andin the open position last indicated the ends of this port are inregistry with the duct 78e and the opening under the conical head of thevalve, thus establishing communication between the lubricant reservoirabove the block 62e and the annular chamber 82e between ythe said blockand the adjacent wall of the recess in which it is seated. The lastnamed chamber is in communication with the cutter bearings of the drillhead through the restricted ducts, 23e, 23e etc.; and also Ycommunicates, through the passage way 95, with the diaphragm chamber 93.The diaphragm-valve block 62ev has a central opening which is in sealedregistry, at its lower end, with the passage way 33 in trie drill Ahead, and which is threaded at its upper end to receive the. tube 63e;and this opening communicates, through the port 96, with the diaphragmchamber 92.

The driving sleeve 6 is provided with l lll) three longitudinallreyways, 20e, 20e etc., and is slidably engaged by a tubular plungermember Se that is attached to the lower end of the drill stem 1l bymeans of the perforated cap coupling 9e. The hollow plunger 8e isinternally beveled andthreaded, at its lower end, to receive the head16e which is also connected to the cap coupling 9e by means of the guardtube 9e@ and the lock nut 3f. The beveled lower end portion of themember Se is cut away atvthree points to receive taper lieys 2le thatproject out into the driving sleeve grooves 2Oe and hold thev relativelyreciprocable members 6e and 8E in non-rotatable relation to each other.The plunger head 16e yis also provided with a bearing 19e which engagesthe central tube 63e, andv with a port 9T that is normally closed by thespring actuated ball valve 98; and a light piston 99 is fitted to slidelongitudinally in the annular chamber between the concentric members 6eand 9e.

In using this lastfdescribed construction the assembly, of drill head,driving sleeve, and vplunger parts, is first inverted-in order to keepthe tapered keys 21e out of frictional engagement with the 'beveled edgeof the head 16E-and the relatively reciprocable members are drawnapartto the poition shown in Figs. l, l, 6 or l0. The piston 99 is alsodrawn out tothe end of theV .are then filled with lubricant through asuitable-opening in the piston (e. g., the one normally closed by thescrew' plug 25e); and when the parts are againbrought to their uprightposition a part of this lubricant will flow by gravity through thepassages 780 and e and partially lill the drill head chamber 82@ thustrapping a considerable volume of `air in the upper end thereof.

TWhen the charged Vassembly is lowered to operating position the drillhead and driving'sleeve parts are supported by the contact of the cuttermembers with the bottom of the bore hole and the weight of theplunger-nrill-stem members is then brought to bear on the mass oflubricant below the' head 1G". The valve 98 prevents any bach flow ofthis material into the upper chainber and the pressure on the confinedmass forces it, through the still open valve 73e, into the chamber S20`more rapidly than` it can be fed therefrom to the cutter bearings. Theincreased `pressure thus produced in tne ydrill head chamber-which istransmitted to the diaphragm chamber 93 through the pasper part of thatchamber, until the pressures on the two sides of the diaphragm 94amnearly equalized; and when this occurs the valve 7 e will be againopened by the spring e and a fresh'charge of unguent will be forced intothe drill head chamber by the vgravit-y pressure of the drill stem partson the material in the main lubricant reservoir. W hen the tool israised out of contact with the bottom ofthe hole the weight of theparts,

i-6e, etc., will tend to expand the partially contracted Jreservoirbetween the heads 16e and 62e, and permit of a bacl flow of fluid intothe lower end of this chamber. In the construction now being described,a-ny such baclllow is prevented or modilied by three cooperatingactions, viz.; (l) the closure of the valve 3e by the elfect of anyreverse movement .of liquid past itsr coned headfand into the outer endof the U shaped port 809;A (2) the frictional locking f of .the wedgeshaped keys 21e between the relatively inclined surfaces-of the drivingsleeve 6 and the plunger head 16e-which tends to prevent anylongitudinal separation of these parts-and the opening of the valve 98-which will immediatelyfollow any separation that does take glace byreason of the slipping of the friction lock last mentionedwhich willpermit of an additional supply of lubricant being forced into the mainreservoir by the pressure of the external fluid on the piston 99. Thisorganization, indeed, permits of the continual replenishment of thematerial inthe lower chamber until the charge?- in the upper chamber hasbeen completely eX- hausted; and thus reducesthe necessary range ofreciprocable movement of the parts l and ll without decreasing thepossible length of run of the tool. But this last feature of con?struction is more fully set forth in a copending applicatioii,'Ser. No.'582,860 filed Aug. 19, 1922, and is not herein claimed.

All of the devices hereinbefore described are in no way dependent intheir action on thev presence or absence of a column or current offlushing liquid in the bore hole. Any one vof them will act effectivelyin automatically maintaining a forced flow of lubricant to the drillkhead cutter bearings when the tool isl operating in either a. dry holeor in water. But one of themajor features of my invention-viz., theutilization of the weight of the drill stem to effect the'forced feed oflubricant to the cutter bearings-can be embodied other unguent under theeffect oit the said 1 weight. One illustrative eXample of such aconstruction is presented in Fig. i6. in this exempliiication of myimprovements the lubricant is contained in the annular chamber betweenthe driving sleeve Gf and the central tube 63f through which theiiushing liquid is conducted to the opening 33 in the drill head 4;-thearrangement of these parts with respect to the Vdrill stem-plungerassembly being substantially the same as shown, for example, in Fig. 14.The upper end of the drill head passage way 33 is enlarged to form anoiset recess in which a turbine wheel 100 is revolvably supported by a,vertical shaft 41f that passes upward through the block 621'- andcarries at its upper end a pinion 42f. This pinion engages an internalgear 39f on the inner periphery of the drum 7Bf which is rotatablymounted in a chamber between the block 62f and the cap 61f. his cap andblock are held together by the threaded end of the tube 632 and are alsoclamped, as a unit, against the upper face of the drill head 4 by theshouldered end of the driving sleeve 6f. The cap 6lf is provided with apassage-way 78f; and the drum r7Bf has a U shaped port 8Ot which isadapted to be brought into registry with the lower end oi the saidpassage-way as the drum rotates, and thus establish amomentarycommunicationbetweentlie lubricant rese ervoir and the chambercontaining the revolving drum. l/Vhen this communication is opened thespace between the members Gif `and @2f is partially filled withlubricant by the pressure of the drill stem parts on the material in themain reservoir, thereby compressing the air that is trapped in the upperpart of this space; and as the drum 7Bf continues to revolve a series ofports 80, in its periphery, are brought successivelyinto registrywiththe opening 79f in the edge of the block 62f, thereby permitting the oilin the said space topass therefrom to the distribution groove 82f on theedge of the drill head 4, from whence it passes in turn, through therestricted chiots, Qf, :23f ctc., to the cutter bearings. in thisconstruction the rate of rotation ot the revolving valve memberSf-andthe resultant discharge of lubricant through the intermittently openedpassage ways TSf-is determined in part by the velocity of flow ot dushJingliquid through the conduit @3f and over the vanes of the turbinewheel 100; and this velocity oic discharge may therefore be controlledfrom the surface of the ground by va ying the rate of supply of water tothe hollow drill stem, as well as by varying the tension of thesupporting cable therefor.

The turbine element, or some other suitable rotor, may, of course, beVused to actuatethe control mechanisms that are shown in Figs.4-5-6-T-'10-l2 and 13; or conversely any of the actuating devices thereshowin-e. g., a gravity or a spring operated clock element, a revolvingcutter drive, or some other equivalent instrumentality-may be used torotate the control valve member of the last vdescribed organization. Andit will now be apparent to engineers and others familiar withvariousspecies of deep well apparatus (such as rotary drills, reamers, pumps,etc.) that the several exempliiications of my invention her inbeforepresented may be modi- `lied in many other respects-or the purpose ofbest adapting my improvements to diiierent types and forms of suchapparatuswithout essentially altering the characteristic featuresthereof. The herein described embodiments oi' the present invention are,theretore, to be regarded as only illustrative of many possibledevelopments and utilizations of my improved lubricating system; and arenot to be considered as suggesting or imposing limitations on the fieldof such developments.

i claim:

l, In a mechanism for feeding lubricant to the bearings of deep welldrills the combination of a reservoir in the drill head, a plungermember attached to the drill stem and adapted to move downward withrespect to said drill head and reservoir, and means tor automaticallycontrolling the rate of rela tive vertical movement of the said partsfor the purposes specified.

2. In a lubricating device for deep well 'member adapted to movelongitudinally with respect to the said drill head and chamber andthereby vary the volumetric capacity of the latter, a drill stemattached to said plunger, and a control mechanism responsive inoperation to an extraneous force for transmitting a predetermined partoi the weight ot the said drill stem to the drill head and `.herebymaintaining the cutter bits in proper pressure engagement with thebottom of the bore hole.

4. in a rotary boring tool the combination of a drill head, a drivingsleeve connected thereto, a plunger member adapted to movelongitudinally with respect to said sleeve, means for holding saidplunger and said sleeve in nonrotatable relation, a drill stem attachedto said plunger, and an externally adjustable means for transmitting aportion of the weight of said drill stem to the drill head and therebymaintaining the drill head cutters in predetermined pressure engagementwith the bottom of the bore hole.

5. In a lubricating device for deep well rotary drills the combinationof a drill head for supporting cutter bits, a drill stem for impartingrotary movement thereto, a pair of relatively slidable membersinterposed between said head and said stem and forming in conjunctiontherewith a lubricant chamber of variable volume, means forautomatically governing the rate of closing movement of said slidingmembers whereby the discharge of lubricant from the said chamber iscontrolled, and other means for holding said relatively slidable partsin ixed relation when the drilling operations are arrested.

6. A mechanism for supplying lubricant to deep well apparatus whichcomprises a lubricant reservoir having a lubricant delivery ductcommunicating therewith, a plunger member reciprocating therein andacting on the lubricant contained therein, a confined liquid opposingthe movement of said plunger on the suction side thereof, and regulablemeans for controlling the movement of said plunger by regulating therate of release of said confined liquid.

7. A lubricating device for deep well drilling apparatus or the like,including two relatively movable members forming a lubricant chamber ofvariable volume Vand having a lubricant delivery duct, means forimposing a lubricant feeding force on one of said members fordischarging lubricant through said duct and suction means responsiveto-such force and independent of the resistance of the flow of thelubricant for controlling the movement of said member in feedinglubricant, and means for adjusting the delivery area of said duct.

8. The combination in deep well drilling i apparatus or the like, a headmember, a sleeve secured thereto for receiving lubricant, a plungeroperating within said sleeve to force lubricant therefrom, a. stemmember secured to said plunger for imparting lubricant delivering forcethereto, a second plunger having a liquid delivery duct formedtherethrough, means associated with said stem member and said secondplunger for confining liquid in said stem member and means for rigidlysecuring said second plunger to said head member.

9. A lubricating device for deep well drilling apparatus having alubricant chamber 0f variable volume formed by complementary sleeves andhaving a lubricant delivery duct communicating therewith, means forimposing a lubricant feeding force on one of said members to dischargelubricant through said duct and means rendered effective by theapplication of said force for controlling the relative lmovementof`saidv members by v, partially i opposing'gsaid lubricant y feedingyforcer` ber of variable volume formed by comple-l mentary sleeves-and:having-a lubricant; deflivery duct communicating therewithameansi;

for imposing-awlubricant feedingforce on one of said members todischarge lubricant through said duct, and means rendered effective bythe application of said force and independent of the resistance to thelubricant ow for controlling the relative movement of said members bypartially opposing said lubricant feeding force.

11. In a lubricant feeding device for deep well drills the combinationof a drill head, a lubricant chamber, a plunger member longitudinallyreciprocable with respect to said chamber, a drill stem attached to saidplunger member, the weight of said drill stem and plunger beingsupported on` said drill head, and a suction operated means forcontrolling the effectiveness of the force of said weight.

12. In a rotary boring tool the combination of a pair of complementarymembers forming a lubricating chamber for the cutting tools thereof,means for impressing the weight of the drill head upon saidcomplementary sleeves for compressing the lubricant therein, and suctionoperated means for opposing said compressive force.

13. A lubricating device for deep well drills which includes a drillhead for supporting the cutter bits, a driving sleeve secur-ed to saiddrill head, a. plunger sleeve complementary with said driving sleeve andmounted therein for longitudinal movement with respect thereto, a pistonmounted on said drill head and positioned in said plunger sleeve, sothat the lubricant feeding force produced by the compressive weight ofsaid tool will be opposed by a suction force between said piston andsaid plunger.

14. A lubricating device for deep well apparatus which includes twosimultaneously rotatable and relatively slidable members forming alubricant chamber of variable volume, means locking said members againstrelative rotation with respect to each other, regulable means forrestraining the rate of closing movement of said slidable memberswithout varying the rate of their rotation whereby the rate of dischargeof lubricant from said chamber is restricted, and other meanswithholding the separation of said members and limiting the expansion ofsaid chamber.

15. A lubricating device for deep well drilling apparatus or the likecomprising a sleeve secured to a drill head member, a plungeroperating'within said sleeve, a stem member secured to said plunger forimparting lubricant feeding force to said plunger, a

pistonfspaced, from said drill head member in immovable relation theretoand operating Within said plunger member, a valve oontrolled ducty insaid piston and regulable rineans for varying the eective area of saiduct.

`In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

FRANK L. O. WADSWORTH.

